The
strong emotion of finding photo of friends, some who sadly have left us, is
very emotional and brings back fond memories of the “good old days”, before
digital photography. I share with you, from my social photography archives some
party photos taken at the Missoni apartment in Milan after one of their 1990s Spring/Summer
fashion shows. Entertaining for the Missoni family, like their clothes is always
colorful, elegantly casual and chic; the guests feel at home and always include
a wide interesting mix of international friends, artists, actors, authors and
journalists – all the perfect ingredients for a fun party.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Milano: Lifestyle –
Lunch with Miro Silvera.
Miro Silvera loves to entertain chez soi.The intellectual, sophisticated and refined
cosmopolitan writer considers himself an outsider in the literary world. He has written
poems, essays and novels, which have won literary prizes and he is also a film
buff, and has written film scripts and is also a curious connoisseur of the arts.The Syrian
born author has lived most of his life in Milan
and is predominantly known for his best selling book Libroterapia, (Book Therapy) published by Salani, where he describes how books can cure all ills, where he takes the
reader through bookshelves telling original stories and pointing to the right
book to cure every ill.

At Home

Lunch
is served in a corner of the sunny sitting room. Obviously the room is full of
books and art works all perfectly and elegantly placed.One could spend days just browsing around and
enjoying them all.

The Table

Like
most creative people Miro is also a
good cook and has always been interested in food. When he entertains he fuses his
Middle Eastern heritage with his Italian upbringing, thereby creating an
unusual and delicious menu - an interesting mix of tastes. On a bright blue Paola Navone designed table, the only
modern note in the room, the table is laid with his grandfather’s gold-rimmed dinner
plates, bought in Prague in the
1950s, and hand-blown Murano glasses.Crudities:
of fennel and carrots are on hand to munch on. The Black bust on the left of the
table is an African sculpture,
whilst the white stucco head on a marble pedestal on the right, is an early
nineteenth century piece. As on every wall of the apartment more books are
stored in the Napoleonic Empire
style bookcase.

The
white marble round table serves as a side table to place the Piero Fornasetti faux marble dessert
plates and serving silver utensils. In the foreground of the group of
sculptures, the double terracotta bust by sculptor Igor Mitoraj.

Sweet and Sour Fruit Salad

Antonio Marinoni – Miro Silvera in Via Lanzone

Watercolor

One
of the many portraits of Miro
portrayed by artists, in various mediums, scattered around the apartment. The Antonio Marinoni architectural
watercolor, above is a perspective of Miro’s former beautiful apartment in Via Lanzone.

"The
book gave me the chance to develop our Milan menu and work on eight new recipes
to represent the elements that would provoke the taste buds, tantalize the eyes
and echo Caesarstone’s work surfaces in a way that would further explore the
boundaries between food and design. I think of this as a feeling of 'rawness' –
to show the materials in a way that appeals to all the senses, which really
echoes Caesarstone's aesthetic."

Francesca
Sarti, Arabeschi di Latte

ICE

Water
is the basis of life on earth. In its natural state – sea or freshwater, liquid
or frozen – it always contains some dissolved salt. This fact – and the
coolness of ice – inspired the recipes for Salty
Lemonade and Icefish Fritters to
represent this refreshing and essential element.

Concept and styling Francesca Sarti - photos by Tom
Mannion

Courtesy
Caesarstone

ICE

Salty Lemonade- Makes 1 glass

1 salted lemon wedge - 2 tbsp lemon balm, syrup or honey

Sprig of fresh lemon balm - Sparkling water or soda

Salted Lemons

12 medium unwaxed lemons - 350g coarse sea salt

4 fresh bay leaves - Handful coriander seeds

10 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

Caesarstone surfaces - 5143 White Attica, 6134 - Georgian Bluffs

FIRE

Fire is a mesmerizing and fascinating
element, mystically transforming many unpalatable foods into highly delicious
treats. Sage smoke adds an aromatic note to the often disregarded cauliflower,
crowned by roasting to achieve a nutty taste. Meanwhile, the sweet goat’s
cheesecake, Torteau Fromager,
elicits a delicate kiss of bitterness when lightly charred.

Concept and styling Francesca Sarti - photos by Tom
Mannion

Courtesy
Caesarstone

FIRE

The Dark
Trophy - Serves 4

1 purple
cauliflower - 2 tbsp olive oil - 1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp black
lava salt or rock salt - Juice of 1 lemon

Bunch of fresh sage

Caesarstone surfaces - 6003 Coastal Grey - 5100 Vanilla
Noir

AIR

Invisible,
uplifting and essential for life, air also serves as the elemental structural
ingredient in the following recipes for Egg
Tower and Snow Soup. Air may
seem like nothing, but without it, these recipes – and life itself – would
simply not exist.

Concept and styling Francesca Sarti - photos by Tom
Mannion

Courtesy
Caesarstone

AIR

Snow Soup - Serves 4

1 fresh,
shelled coconut - 1 white fungus, soaked and puffed up

2 egg whites
- 100ml coconut juice - 100ml milk

20g panela
sugar or brown sugar

A few pandan
leaves or 1 small stalk of bruised lemongrass

Caesarstonesurface - 6134 Georgian Bluffs

EARTH

Earth
is perhaps the most deeply warming, comforting and homely of all the elements.
It is the perfect starting point for all recipes because without the earth to
grow crops and nurture animals, there would be very little to cook. These
recipes for Stones Sandwiches and Italian Testaroli pasta are a witty
expression of the very nature of earth and some of its ground-dwelling
inhabitants.

Concept and styling Francesca Sarti - photos by Tom
Mannion

Courtesy
Caesarstone

EARTH

Stones Sandwiches - Serves 4

Sourdough bread

750g spelt
flour - 720ml water - Rye flour

Spices:
licorice or coffee powder, turmeric, poppy seeds

Handful of
oats - Sea salt

Filling

100g fresh
or dried black chanterelles - Olive oil -1 clove garlic

1 sprig
thyme - Sea salt and pepper

Pickled
walnuts or pickled onion

Caesarstone
surface - 5380 Emperadoro

The
Restaurant by Caesarstone and Tom Dixon for Milan’s Salone del Mobile 2016

“The idea was to inspire architects and designers by showing
them

how, through the concept of the four elements, food and
surfaces can interact in different ways, delivering a food experience that
challenges all the senses.”

Tom
Dixon

Above. The Earth Kitchen was inspired by Roman aqueducts,
Caesarstone surfaces were configured, contorted and curved to show their pliant
properties.